Earth and Sky
by Lord Xemnas
Summary: Riku and Sora are best friends. Riku doesn't know what he'd do without that friendship. He needed Sora like the Earth needed the Sky. AUish Oneshot


_Where the Sea meets Earth and Sky_

By: Axel

Riku's PoV

XxX

It was the best of times; it was the worst of times…

Three friends are completely inseparable. But with age comes change, welcomed and unwelcome. And with unwelcome change brings bitter emotions…

And darkness.

XxX

In that moment all there was, was the warmth of dawn, the sound of waves licking the shoreline and gulls cawing furiously, the smell of sea and tropical foliage, and of course, me.

I had come out early to organize my thoughts after a long, restless night. I had fallen asleep well after midnight and woke about two hours later. I'm not the kind of person that can go back to sleep after waking up, so I had put on my shoes and walked out to the beach.

For one reason or another I was much more relaxed, lying stretched out, vulnerable, on the beach than within the safety of my home. I took a deep breath, breathing in the sea and the sky. I let my naked fingers thread through the white sand and I sighed. I would miss being able to do this every day. Summer was eternally slipping away and the days of enslavement at the hands of private education drawing closer.

The others were lucky. They had nice normal families, all contented and comfortable with their place on the earth. Mine however were constantly striving to make sure that they were better. They were those competitive assholes you always saw not an inch away from there child, always bragging about them in high pitched nasally voices. They were the ones that started sinister whispers that drove stakes between people in a small happy community like ours.

Let me make it simple. My dad's a preacher, my mom the preacher's wife, and I the preacher's son. And there was no end to how much I hated it. I always had to be different. I was 'better' just because I was there son and shouldn't associate with the other kids. They went as far to separate my friends and me as to put me in a private school.

My dad was one of those fire-breathing community religious leaders that looked for excuses to damn someone. If he had such a power he probably would have already cast about 90 of the world's population into the Lake of Fire. When I was a little kid I had looked up to him, now I just see him as a bitter old bastard.

Mom, she was never around. I mean she was around, but you never saw her. She was always up in her room with a deadbolt on the door. It's been getting so bad lately I can't remember the last time I saw her. It's been this way for several years now. Now that I don't see her as much, well, we've kinda drifted apart.

"Hey Riku!" a soft voice derailed my train of thought. I looked up and saw my friend's azure eyes looking down at me. They were full of that energy yet naivety you often find in small children.

"Sora" I said and grinned. I sat up and grinned at him. " What brings you out here this time of the morning?"

"I could ask you the same thing" he said and smiled. He sat down next to me at the ocean's edge and muttered " I couldn't sleep."

I nodded "Me too. Maybe its because summers almost over."

"Maybe its because you have to go back to 'that' school" Sora said, sounding almost sad.

I shrugged, " maybe." Silence trickled in, filling the gaps between our thoughts. "well since we're both up why don't we do something? I mean we're running out of time."

"Yeah" Sora said, grinning at me stupidly. It was though, in it's own way, adorable. I've always thought there were things that were cute about Sora. As awkward as it is coming from another male, Sora was very charming. Not in your typical guy way, but more or less in a child like way. He easily reminded me more of kid than the teenager he had become in recent years. We've been friends all our lives, I've watched Sora grow up… and he never really changes. He's always been that little kid I discovered on the island one day, playing in the ocean.

I've always been attracted to Sora. No, not in a sexual way, get your mind out of the gutter. But he's always been an important part of my life. As we were getting older though we were kind of…drifting apart. And it was killing me.

"Let's go swimming," I suggested, staring at the water, greedily taking away the sand from the beach, and then crawling back up for more.

"Okay, last one in's a rotten egg" Sora said, standing up. He extended a hand to me and helped me up. I smiled at him and we both took running to the pier where our boats were tied up. We each ripped our shirts off as we were sprinting down the wharf, diving in at the end of it.

I hit the icy water hard. So hard that it knocked the breath out of me and caused me to yelp. It was such a quick temperature change it had shocked me.

Sora giggled, still standing on the edge of the dock, staring down at me. I snarled, grabbing his ankles and pulling him in after me. He gave a startled yelp when he hit the water, just as I had. I took it a step farther by pushing his head under the water for a moment. He struggled and twitched, trying to get out of my grasp.

I let go and began paddling away while Sora was recomposing himself. " I'm gonna get you Riku" he yelled at me and began to swim after me.

"Gotta catch me first" I called back. He never would though. I was always better than Sora at stuff. But that was fine with me. He was constantly trying to get better than me, which only pushed me to get better too. Sora needed me in a scene, which kinda made me feel special.

Sora made a valiant effort to catch up to me but I was too far ahead for him to catch up easily. I took a detour by the little atoll adorned with a few coconut trees and a solitary paopu fruit tree. I swam around to the other side and climbed up the small latter onto the island. Sora obviously didn't see me, as I watched him paddle around, looking for me with a confused look on his face.

I grinned evilly and picked up a fallen coconut. " Looking for someone" I asked. Sora looked up and I hurled the coconut at him. It hit him square on the head, causing him to sink under the water for a moment. He resurfaced then swam over to the island furiously.

"I'm gonna get you for that" He said and lunged at me. He tackled me to the ground, pinning me for a moment.

"Don't you ever learn" I asked, grinning. He gave me a questioning glace, opening his mouth to say something. I took this as an opportunity to switch places. I pulled Sora down and rolled over, straddling his hips. I pressed my fingers tightly against his shoulders, causing him to squirm in protest. I leaned down and whispered in his ear " I'm just better than you."

Sora finally stopped struggling and lay limp on the ground, glaring up at me. I couldn't help but laugh. It was a strange sight, anger burning in the soft sky colored eyes.

I got off him turning away and walking over to the paopu tree. I climbed up on it, taking my usual seat on the trunk, hanging out over the ocean. I looked over and Sora was climbing to his feet. I smiled at him and tapped the side of the trunk, offering him a place to sit.

I think I had hurt his pride a bit; he slunk over, a defeated look in his eyes. He sat next to me and sighed. "Why are you always better at stuff than me? I keep trying but you keep getting better" he asked.

I smiled and pat him on the back, " its because your always getting better too. I have to constantly work to stay a step ahead of you."

"Will I ever be as good as you?" his eyes shone with determination.

"Maybe" I said. Silence fell over us for a long time as the sun finally rose up above the horizon. We waited and watched it in silence.

I looked over at Sora and smiled " you'll never get better without me though" I purred, earning myself a strange look. " You need me."

We needed each other, like the earth needed the sky…

XxX

End Chapter One

So what'd you think of it? Good? Bad? Mediocre? Please tell me what you think. I wont continue until I get a fair amount of feedback.


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